Zoom's panic
by Fzy
Summary: Based on events of episode 13, 'The Chosen One', The arrival of Zen causes Zoom to have a panic attack, he is then comforted by Vert.


First BF5 fic so I hope this is ok,

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with hot wheels battle force 5

Some phrases are quotes for the episode "The Chosen One"

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"Man, I hate lectures" Zoom moaned aloud looking down at the table as Vert ranted about his rash actions in the last battle zone.

"I don't give orders just to boss people around Zoom!" Vert spoke harshly, he didn't want to upset Zoom but he had been so worried about him not long ago and needed to make Zoom understood he could not do that again.

Verts rant was interrupted by the door to the diner opening, a strange figure entered holding a board, they headed straight for Grace. Zoom looked at the figure intently, there was something familiar about them but he just could not figure out what.

"Your looking for Zoom?" Grace said "He's right over there" She pointed towards Zoom, the stranger immediately turned round to face the table, he briefly looked at the people seated around the table before focusing on Zoom who met his eyes.

Zoom felt his breath catch as his eyes met those of the stranger. He didn't know what to do, so he acted without thinking, he jumped up onto the table and ran towards to the door, ignoring his team mates and everything else, Zoom dashed outside and jumped on the Chopper, he pulled his helmet on faster than he ever has, his breathing was still faster than it should have been but he had no time to stop and calm down, he needed to get away. Get away from him. He felt tears prick at his eyes, he quickly shook his head trying to clear his blurry vision, looking behind, the stranger was visible following him closely.

"Gotta... shake him" Zoom said to himself as he sped up trying his hardest to get rid of his tail so he could safely head back to the hub.

"Or, we could shake. Him. up." Vert said pulling up next to him. Zoom was grateful for the help as he saw his team mates trying to stop the stranger. Zooms chest was starting to hurt, he knew he needed to stop soon. He needed to get back to the hub and back to his room. He just needed to get away from all of this. He slowed down and stopped looking back as his team mates surrounded the stranger.

"Now do you wanna tell us why your following our friend?" Vert said walking over towards the stranger. Zoom thought it would be OK to leave, his team could handle this, he could sneak back to the hub, nobody would notice... But then he saw Spinner and Sherman on the ground. Zoom spun the chopper back round and sped back to the group. Pulling off his helmet Zoom began to speak quickly to explain the situation.

"His name's Zen. He's from the order. I left the order and him. That's why he's here. But I cant. I cant do this" Zoom's irregular breathing was now noticeable to the group.

"You okay Zoom?" Vert said taking a step towards Zoom starting to reach out with his hand. Catching the action in his peripheral vision, Zoom took a step back away from the group shaking his head

"I can't. I.. I.." Zoom put his helmet back on and jumped back on the chopper, he sped back to the hub, who cares if Zen followed him, he just needs to get back.

The rest of the group watched shocked as Zoom suddenly jumped on the chopper and sped away. Zen reacted first, grabbing his board back from Sherman. The rest of the battle force 5 all jumped into their vehicles and started to follow after Zoom

"He must be heading back to the hub, come on we need to fins out if he's okay" Vert said worrying about Zoom.

Zen jumped onto his board and looked down as it feel apart beneath his feet.

"I made some mods to your board!" Sherman called back grinning for a few moment before remembering the seriousness of the situation as nobody knew what was happening with Zoom.

The team reached the hub together a few minutes later. They sped inside and jumped out of their vehicles seeing the chopper left its usual space.

"Sage!" Vert shouted as he made his way further into the hub, she was son in front of him with a serious look on his face.

"Vert. I feel it would be best if you approached Zoom alone. I fear I know what is happening. If I am correct Zoom will need you, but be patient with him." Sage spoke sadly before letting Vert past to go up to Zooms room within the hub. The rest of the team went through to the kitchen to get a drink and discuss what was going on.

Vert knocked gently on Zooms door before slowly pushing it open, he was not expecting to get a reply. Vert knew Zoom was upset but he was still not prepared for the sight of Zoom curled up under his duvet on his bed. The shape of Zoom on the bed was shaking slightly. Vert suspected that Zoom was crying.

"Zoom... Hey, you okay" Zoom groaned inwardly as soon as he said it, of course Zoom was not okay, he again got no reply from his scout so he continued to move forwards towards the bed, when he reached the bed he crouched down beside it and reached a hand forward to touch what he assumed would be Zoom's shoulder. He felt Zoom flinch at the contact but he did not move his hand, he waited a few moments just letting his scout know that he was there.

"Its just me Zoom, I'm worried about you OK?" Vert gently reached up to the edge of the duvet and began to move it away from Zooms face.

"Hey Zoom" Vert said softly, his suspicions were confirmed as he saw tears running down Zooms face. Zoom looked up at Vert with big eyes that were full of emotion the most prominent was shear panic.

"I... I .. I cant... I cant breathe Vert" Zoom struggled to say then finished in a rush.

"It's OK Zoom, you can breathe your just doing it to fast so it feels like you cant" Vert shifted so that he was kneeling by the bed so he could see Zoom better. "Can you sit up for me Zoom? You'll be able to catch your breath better" Vert reached his arm around Zooms back and encouraged him to sit up. It was slow but eventually Zoom was sitting up with his back against the headboard of the bed. Vert slowly moved so that he was sitting beside Zoom on the bed, he again reached his arm around Zooms back in a comforting gesture. "Just breathe for me okay Zoom, forget everything, just think about right now, we're just sitting in your room, there's nothing to do, nothing that needs to be done nor anything that needs thinking about. Just focus on this right now"

It took a while but eventually Zoom began to calm down, Vert continued to whisper to Zoom to try and keep him calm, he had no idea if it was helping or not but he continued as he had no protest from Zoom. Vert let out a sigh of relief when he realised Zooms breathing was at a much more normal rate, Zoom was leaning back more against the headboard of the bed, the events of the day had tired him out, his eyes were closed as Vert stared at him for a few moments trying to work out what was going on in his mind.

"Thanks..." Breathed Zoom after a few more moments silence, Zoom opened his eyes as he spoke, they flicked to Vert but upon finding his looking back at him he quickly became interested in the duvet he was currently holding.

"Its fine Zoom, there is nothing to thank, anyone would have done the same, are you feeling better now?" Vert gently questioned.

"Um, yeah actually... I sorry, I just... seeing him again... I couldn't.. I" Zoom began to stumble on his words towards the end of speaking.

"Hey Zoom, it's OK. Don't talk about it if you don't want to. Don't stress out okay, we're fine here okay? I'm here with you and we're fine" vert tried to reassure his still panicked scout.

"I know, I know.. Its just its hard.. coming here I thought I could finally leave that life behind.. I thought I was free from everything in my past, I could make new friends here and have a new life and I was in no way prepared to see him again especially not so soon and so unexpectedly... It just.. I guess I couldn't handle it... Stupid huh" Zoom scoffed.

"Its not stupid Zoom!" Vert said turning so he was looking at Zoom more directly, "I don't know what happened in your past, and I don't ever have to know that is entirely up to you, but I can understand that someone turning up out of the blue can be shocking and your mind can just overload and not know how to handle the situation. Its okay Zoom, Its really okay"

"Thanks... again..." Zoom said again still looking down, "Do the others..."

"I think they figured out you were having a panic attack as Sage did, but they don't know anything else, Sherman messed with Zen's board so he didn't have chance to follow us here, nobody knows anything other than what you tell them, and what you tell them is up to you. I'm sure they will never speak of this if you don't want them to. Although I believe Zen may be a recurring problem if not dealt with... But that can wait okay?" Vert squeezed Zooms shoulders as he spoke in an attempt to reassure the boy and make him feel better.

"Hey Vert... I'm really tired..." Zoom said embarrassed.

"Oh yeah of course, you must be! Sorry, I'll leave you alone if your okay? But Ill still come back and check on you later to make sure your still okay if that's alright?"

"Actually Vert... I was uh... wondering if you'd be able to stay with me... just for a little while until I fall asleep? I just.. I don't wanna be completely alone right now..." Zoom still had not looked up at Vert.

"Of course Zoom, Ill stay with you. But even if I was not here in this room, your never alone Zoom, we're all here for you whether you can see us or not okay? But come on now you need to nap, you'll feel even better after." Vert smiled slightly down at Zoom to try and cheer the boy up a little bit now that he seemed to be less panicked. Zoom shuffled so that he was again lying down on the bed under the bed, Vert lay down next to him on top of the covers, his arm still round Zoom, he was not bothered about the dead arm he would have when they woke up, all he cared about was making Zoom feel safe.

Zoom fell asleep quickly, Vert stayed awake for a while after, watching the simple rise and fall of Zooms chest, he would not admit to Zoom but seeing him so panicked worried Vert, he did not know how to help the boy, he did not really know what was causing his panic but he tried his best and now he would do whatever he could to help Zoom feel OK. Eventually Vert drifted off to sleep beside Zoom.

A few hours later Agura was sent up to Zooms room by the rest of the team to see how the young scout was fairing, a slight smile graced her face when she saw the two members of her team asleep on the bed, they looked so peaceful, she only hoped they could maintain this peace when they awoke later on.

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Please review, unsure if I should continue this so please let me know if you'd want this continued.

I personally ship Zoom x Vert however I tried to keep them as friends here, so if you would not mind them being more in future chapters (if you want more) then please let me know that to.


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